Why We Turn People Into Monsters
Dracula sunk his teeth into Mina Harker until he drew blood from her warm flesh and binding her to him as a vampire bride. Suspicion followed Dorian Gray as he remained impossibly young as those around him aged. Heathcliff spent a lifetime haunting and seeking revenge because Heathcliff and Cathy’s souls were made of the same substance. We read about monsters, but recognize something so human behind them all. It is right here in real life.
It shows up in news cycles, in gossip, in politics, in social media, and even in everyday conversations between your friends and it is this:
We decide that some people are not just dabbling in wrongness, but dangerous, at their core, morally contaminated, something closer to a monster! And once that shift happens, something changes in how we think, talk, and feel about them and finally how we treat them.
This is the subject I want to explore, I call it Gothic Psychology.
It is not a formal academic field. It is also not a scientific discipline. But it is my way of looking at how human beings create “monsters” out of other human beings, and what that does to us in the process.
The Making of a Monster
Psychologically, monsters are very real. Rather than looking for fanged creatures, transformed werewolves or other supernatural beings, they appear as social roles.
A monster is what someone becomes when a group decides they represent something intolerable.
A person is no longer just a person. They become a symbol of:
- danger
- corruption
- moral failure
- threat
- difference that cannot be tolerated
At that point, complexity and context begin to disappear. We stop seeing a human being and start seeing a story. In that story, someone must play the villain.
Why We Need Villains
People sometimes create monsters out of ignorance, fear, self-interest, and, at times, cruelty. It is done because it serves a psychological and social function.
Villains help simplify the world. It gives a definition and shape to fear and anxieties. The chaos behind life issues becomes less abstract and easy to explain. Blaming the villain justifies hate and compartmentalizes problems. Additionally, villains can help unify divided groups. Ever heard of the saying, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”?
This is not always conscious. It happens through language, culture, distorted histories, repetition, art and shared emotional reaction.
A joke becomes a stereotype. A stereotype becomes a belief. A belief becomes a moral certainty. Eventually, a human being becomes an idea instead of a person. Finally, a monster is formed when a person is dehumanized.
Gossip, Stories, and Social Reality
One of the most interesting places this process can be seen is in celebrity gossip. Gossip is often dismissed as shallow or meaningless. But I think it is one of the most revealing forms of human communication we have.
Gossip is about interpretation. Let’s take a glance at what sort of questions come from gossiping:
Who is the “good guy”?
Who is “la toxica/ el toxico”?
Is it a rumor?
Is it a reliable source?
Who was harmed?
Do they deserve sympathy?
Do they deserves judgement?
Gossip is how social reality gets constructed in real time. It is also where monsters begin to form.
A person becomes “the leech.” “the illegal alien.” “the whore.” “the witch.”
And once a label sticks, it starts shaping how every future action is interpreted.
The Gothic Element
The word “gothic” is usually associated with darkness, horror, and decay. In literature, Gothic stories are about what happens when something hidden inside human life refuses to stay hidden, psychological mystery and the supernatural. These themes are:
Repression | Fear | Shame | Desire | Violence
Psychologically, Gothic stories ask a question that I think is still incredibly relevant today:
What do we do with the parts of reality we do not want to face?
Sometimes we bury them, other times, we deny them, and there are those moments we project them onto other people.
The Psychology of Othering
At the center of this exploration is a simple process: social psychology teaches us that we divide the world into “us” and “them.”
This division is not inherently harmful. It is a normal part of human cognition and group life. There are healthy othering groups such as, queer groups, heritage communities, fitness clubs etc. But the dangerous part of the process occurs when “them” is no longer seen as fully human. The moment when the “us” group looks at the “them” group and finds that their differences becomes a threat.
Why This Matters to Me
I am interested in this because it is everywhere. This phenomenon shapes who is feared and who is protected. It informs us who is believed and who is dismissed. This is seen as who is complex and who is reduced down to a category. I have observed it in small moments between individuals and in large systems between groups.
And once you start noticing it, it becomes difficult to stop seeing it.
What My Blog Will Explore
My blog is an attempt to trace that pattern.
To look at:
- how people become symbols instead of individuals
- how stories shape moral judgment
- how fear spreads through language
- how groups decide who belongs and who does not
- how empathy is built, and how it is selectively broken
Some of my posts will look at public events. I will look at cultural patterns and dive into psychological concepts. My goal will simply be provoking questions even if they go unanswered. I am not writing from a position of certainty, as I do not have all the answers, I am coming from curiosity.
A Final Question
If we can turn people into monsters through story, culture language, and repetition…
Is it also possible to reverse that process? Allow me to add, I am not suggesting ignoring any harm or excusing behavior. Can it be reversed by restoring complexity where it has been erased. This is one question I would like to explore.
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